U.S. Adds to Detained Australians' Rights

By NEIL A. LEWIS

Published: November 26, 2003

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25—
The Australian government and the Bush administration said on Tuesday that they had reached a final agreement to let military commissions bring terrorism or war crimes charges against two Australians detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The announcement, first made by Australia, came after a round of concessions by Washington that followed five months of talks. The changes include allowing an Australian defense lawyer to have face-to-face contact with any Australian charged. President Bush has designated 6 of the 660 detainees at the Guantánamo Navy base as eligible for trial by a military commission, including David Hicks, 26, an Australian who joined the Taliban in 1999 and was captured with it.

Another concession allows Australia to file a brief with the body that would review any verdict and sentence reached by a tribunal.

In a statement released by the Australian Embassy here, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney General Philip Ruddock said: ''We accept Mr. Hicks and Mr. Habib could be tried by the U.S., provided that their trials are fair and transparent while protecting security interests. The government believes that the military commission processes will fulfill these criteria.''

The other Australian, Mamdouh Habib, 47, of Sydney, was seized by the police in Pakistan in October 2001 enroute from Quetta to Karachi.

United States officials said they hoped that the accord could be a template for one with the British. Negotiations with both governments that began in July ended with pacts that neither Mr. Hicks nor two British prisoners among the six who could be taken before a tribunal would face the death penalty.

From the start, Australia had been far more amenable in the talks than Britain, American officials have said. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain has faced significant criticism at home over the detentions of nine Britons at Guantánamo.

In addition to Mr. Hicks, the six eligible for tribunals include Feroz Abbasi, 23, of London, and Moazzam Begg, 35, of Birmingham. The United States also said it would allow Mr. Hicks's family to attend any trial.

Photo: David Hicks when he was in the Kosovo Liberation Army in the late 90's. (Photo by News Ltd., via Associated Press)